TW: some violence at the end of the chapter

Being outside in this beautiful weather with the summer sun shining on her face improved Minji’s mood significantly. Mochi walked a few meters ahead of her, meowing as it chased after a smaller demon with a bird-like body. Its three eyes creeped Minji out, so she avoided looking at it and pretended it wasn’t there. The star on her wrist had stopped glowing as soon as she left the house, and now it looked like a regular tattoo, not standing out. She was relieved to be able to spend some time with her friends. The tension in her apartment had been stifling and hard to endure, so she was glad to be outside now.

Minji took the next subway train headed to the city, and Mochi sat on her lap, none of the other people noticing the demon. When she reached her destination, they left the train and walked up the stairs to a large crowded square. She had arrived in Myeongdong and spotted her two friends waiting for her.

“Hello Minji, long time no see,” Jisoo said, enveloping her in a hug.

“True, we haven’t met in ages,” Minji replied, embracing Chaeyoung next. “Do you want to get some ice cream?”

“Sure, sounds good,” Jisoo smiled, and the three women turned into a busy shopping street, talking animatedly and catching up on everything that had happened in the past week. Minji glossed over certain supernatural details but mentioned her new housemate since she assumed they would see him sooner or later.

They sat at a table in an ice cream parlor and ordered ice cream, Minji enjoying the bubbly atmosphere her friends were surrounded in. Mochi lingered at her feet, ultimately lying down to sleep for a while. Minji could have sworn she saw Jisoo glance at it a few times, and she wondered if she could also see it, considering she had witch blood running through her veins.

“Want to tell us more about this new housemate? That came out of nowhere,” Chaeyoung said curiously, leaning forward in her seat. She twirled a lock of her dark hair around her finger..

“Well, he’s grumpy and not what you would expect of a housemate, I guess.”

“Did you say he?” Jisoo asked, gaping at her with an open mouth. “Who exactly are you talking about?” The worry in her eyes was not lost on Minji, who tried her best to ignore it. The sight made her stomach churn.

“It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to let him… uh… move in,” Minji explained, not giving them any details they didn’t appreciate.

“Does this mysterious guy have a name?” Chaeyoung asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, it’s Baëkhyun,” Minji answered. Jisoo’s eyes widened. She almost choked on her ice cream and coughed.

“Jisoo! Don’t eat your ice cream in one go,” Chaeyoung scolded, but Jisoo didn’t hear her.

“Where did this Baëkhyun come from all of a sudden?” Jisoo asked, horror flashing through her eyes.

“I think you already know,” Minji answered quietly, turning her wrist so that the crest was visible. It was the very same symbol Jisoo had drawn on the summoning circle, and she recognized it immediately.

“Oh no,” she breathed. She held her hand over , unable to tear her eyes away from the mark. “M-Minji, why didn’t you say anything sooner? H-How did this even… I don’t… I’m so sorry!” Her stuttering didn’t make sense to Chaeyoung, who glanced at her like she had lost it. Minji, on the other hand, knew exactly what was going on.

“I never thought this would actually work! I’m not even a real witch yet! I need to reverse it somehow,” she rambled nervously, her voice going quieter and quieter until Minji barely heard it. “So that’s why my grandma suddenly stopped teaching me.”

“She didn’t tell you the reason?” Minji asked in disbelief, creasing her forehead.

“No, she only told me I made an unforgivable mistake and that she couldn’t continue teaching me. Now I know why she kept mentioning demons so often lately… she’s been searching spellbooks about bonds, but I had no idea why,” Jisoo said, gritting her teeth. Minji read crushing guilt in her gaze. “Please tell me he didn’t hurt you.”

“No, he’s just a little annoying sometimes. You don’t need to worry about him. He may be a demon, but he’s not all bad,” Minji said, sighing. She didn’t blame her friend for anything that happened. It had been an accident. “I’m not mad at you.”

“But I… I deserve your anger,” Jisoo mumbled dejectedly. “It looks like my untrained magic went out of control. I didn’t even attempt a bonding spell; it was supposed to be a regular summoning spell!”

“Okay, you two weirdos, what the heck is going on?” Chaeyoung cut in and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She regarded her friends with raised eyebrows, not understanding what they were discussing. “What’s your problem with her housemate, Jisoo?”

“Oh, umm… we were just… uh…” Jisoo stuttered, desperately glancing at Minji, who had to think of a believable excuse quickly.

“We were playing a prank on you,” Minji said, smiling tensely. She should have come up with something better than that!

“A prank. Do you expect me to believe that?”

“Well, you know how crazy Jisoo is about demons and stuff, so…” Minji tried to explain to make it sound more logical. Chaeyoung didn’t seem convinced, but she let it go.

“I’m keeping an eye on you, Jisoo and Minji.”

Jisoo laughed nervously and went back to eating her ice cream, relieved when Chaeyoung went on to talk about a different topic, rambling about one of the most disliked professors in her university. Minji sighed, glad that she hadn’t seen through them. Then again, who would believe in witchcraft and demons from one second to the next? She could tell that Jisoo wasn’t listening to their conversation anymore, and her guilty frown bothered Minji. She gestured for Mochi to jump on her lap to cheer her up. The glowing demon gained Jisoo’s attention when it climbed on the table, sticking its nose into her empty ice cream bowl and the remains off. The woman smiled at the sight, petting it in a way that didn’t seem all too suspicious to Chaeyoung.

“Do you have a new pet?” Jisoo asked, prompting Minji to smile and nod.

“Huh?” Chaeyoung said, surprised.

“It’s a cat called Mochi,” Minji replied. “I haven’t had it for long, though.”

“You should show me sometime,” Chaeyoung grinned, and Minji held back a cringe.

“M-Maybe,” she said and laughed nervously.

The three friends left the ice cream parlor soon after, strolling down the streets of Seoul. Since the area was crowded, they needed to be careful not to lose each other in the chaos.

“By the way, some of our fellow students in university had a funny idea for the weekend,” Chaeyoung said, gaining Minji’s interest, while Jisoo’s face fell.

“Chaeyoung, I’m not sure if Minji wants this right now. She’s probably busy with other things. Did you forget that she only just got a new housemate?” she said, glaring at her friend who didn’t get the message.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. It’s going to be fun! A friend of mine recently found this old abandoned property in the middle of the woods, and she asked if we were up for a little dare. She wants to visit it in the middle of the night,” Chaeyoung explained with too much enthusiasm in Minji’s opinion. “You know, for a ghost hunt.”

Minji visibly shuddered and was quick to decline. “No thanks,” she said, exchanging a glance with Jisoo, who shared her opinion.

“See, I told you,” Jisoo added, earning a dark look from Chaeyoung. “Neither I nor Minji will accompany you, and I advise you to reconsider this. It’s dangerous to enter an old building at night. It might collapse… and maybe you will experience something terrible.”

“You two are such killjoys,” Chaeyoung frowned, but she accepted their decision.

It was past nine PM when they decided to go home and separated at an intersection, each heading in a different direction. The walk to the subway station was spent in silence since Mochi obviously couldn’t talk to Minji. The night was cool, and her summer dress did little to protect her from the cold wind. She hugged her shivering form and quickened her steps. If she hurried a little, she would reach the station within the next five minutes or so.

Suddenly, the crest on her wrist pulsed. A shard of fear pierced Minji’s heart. She turned her wrist to look at it. The mark still appeared like a regular tattoo, but the way it ached wasn’t a good sign. Minji straightened her back and looked around, trying to see if anyone was nearby, but it was too dark to tell. Gripped by fear, she walked faster, Mochi next to her growling distortedly. She had never heard such a terrifying sound from the cat.

Minji was surprised when the demon changed its form, growing taller. Now it wasn’t a little kitty anymore; it resembled a cheetah, its back being the same height as Minji’s thigh. Its body remained translucent and shimmered golden, but the fangs had elongated, and the eyes looked bloodthirsty. She shivered—something was very wrong. Looking behind her in the same direction as Mochi, she spotted the dark outline of a person following her.

Cursing, she sprinted to the subway station, hoping to catch the next train to get away from her pursuer. Mochi followed her closely, all the while growling. Minji was scared, but she knew it wouldn’t leave her hanging if the creep behind her decided to hurt her. Nonetheless, she didn’t take chances and ran faster than before, breathing unevenly in panic. Her heart pounded hard in her chest as fear streamed through her. The person following her had to be the very same person responsible for the kidnappings; the last thing she wanted was to become one of his victims too. She cursed Baëkhyun for leaving her alone at a time like this. What had he been thinking?

She took the stairs leading underground to the subway station and hurried on. Only a few people were around, and they hardly paid attention to her, not noticing the fear in her eyes. Minji couldn’t believe her luck when a train arrived just in time for her to get on. She jumped in, the doors closing behind her. She stared out the window with heaving shoulders, keeping an eye on the stairs. The man descended them slowly and without a care. It seemed like he was mocking her. His face was shrouded in darkness, but his red eyes were clearly focused on her. As the train drove off, she lost sight of him, and the warning pulses of her mark stopped.

He was gone. Letting out a breath, took a seat and hid her face in her hands. Now back in its usual small form, Mochi jumped on her lap and purred quietly, attempting to comfort her. She sighed and petted its back. “Thank you,” she uttered.

After twenty minutes, she finally reached her stop and left the train to walk home. The darkness was unsettling. However, knowing the mark would warn her if something was wrong calmed her. When Minji entered her apartment building, she climbed up the stairs and unlocked her door to enter her apartment. Inside, she was greeted by the sight of Baëkhyun restlessly walking back and forth in the living room, turning around when he heard her. She saw red in his eyes, but it vanished in a blink.

“Good job, demon,” he muttered, directed at the cat that blinked at him before scurrying off into the bedroom.

“He followed me to the subway station. I saw him. He wasn’t trying to hide at all,” Minji explained ner